66 + 60 = History

Just 1 Swing, And Sammy's The Man

They have gone 81 years without a world championship and 54 without a pennant, but eight days without a Sammy Sosa home run seemed like an eternity to Cubs fans.

Sosa ended the wait in typical style Saturday, arriving fashionably late for his date with history.

But when he blasted a Jason Bere changeup into the center-field basket for his 60th home run of the season in the sixth inning of the Cubs' 7-4, 14-inning loss to Milwaukee, Sosa became the first player in major-league history to hit 60 homers twice.

After touching home plate and sealing his place in the record books, the former shoeshine boy from the Dominican Republic pointed to the sky, as always.

"I never forgot where I came from and I'll never forget the person I was," Sosa said. "God blessed me in a lot of different ways. I don't want to forget. He's up there watching me. He gave me the opportunity to come to this country and make people happy, to make people understand that people from another country have a heart, that people from another country believe there is somebody up there."

A crowd of 39,304 turned out on a sun-kissed afternoon to witness history, and after some warm salutations from his teammates in the Cub dugout, Sosa was coaxed out for a curtain call. It didn't take much coaxing.

"I was getting anxious at the plate," Sosa said. "But every at-bat they were cheering for me. My emotions were getting higher."

Since hitting No. 59 on Sept. 9, Sosa had been homerless in seven games and 37 at-bats before ending the suspense on a 2-2 pitch from Bere. He was given a second chance by first-base umpire Ed Rapuano, who ruled Sosa checked his swing on Bere's 1-2 pitch and didn't go around for a strikeout.

Babe Ruth set the original home run record with 60 in 1927, but not even Ruth was able to hit 60 again. Sosa not only did it twice, he did it in back-to-back seasons.

"A lot of people said no, he couldn't do it again," Cubs coach Billy Williams said. "But to know him and to know how he works to make himself better . . . it's all paying off. He worked hard, he wanted to do great things and this is what he accomplished.

"It's amazing. As long as we've played baseball, and then a guy comes along and does it two years in a row like Sammy . . . it's a great feat. It's tough enough to hit the baseball, to get a base hit. But when you can hit 60 home runs two years in a row, that's really a great feat."

Said manager Jim Riggleman: "The home runs are great, but Sammy would be the first to tell you he'd trade 'em all in for a bunch of wins."

Sosa is 10 home runs short of the single-season record of 70, which Mark McGwire set last season. And with 14 games remaining, his chances of reaching the record appear remote.

"You can never say no about anything in this game," Sosa said.

After the sixth inning ended, Sosa was the only outfielder to go out to his position right away. Henry Rodriguez and Roosevelt Brown stayed back in the dugout, letting Sosa savor the crowd's reception in the late-afternoon sun. Sosa doffed his cap to the bleacherites and waved while standing in the outfield, and he received a few hundred salaams in return.

He came to the plate four more times in the game, walking in the seventh, singling in the ninth, grounding out in the 11th and hitting a pop foul to the catcher in the 13th.

No. 60 was the fifth home run Sosa has hit against Milwaukee pitching this season, and the 17th he has hit off the Brewers in the last two seasons. In 1998, he hit Nos. 59, 60, 61, 64 and 65 against Milwaukee. Is he picking on the cheeseheads like a snooty Chicagoan?

"Hey," he said with a laugh. "I don't make the schedule."

From the first day Sosa arrived in training camp in Arizona, he was bombarded with questions of whether he could repeat his home run barrage of '98. His standard reply was "I'll tell you when the season is over." The season isn't over, but Sosa proved he was indeed up to the task.

"What he did was once in a lifetime, and it's special," Glenallen Hill said.

A security guard retrieved the souvenir, and Sosa was presented the ball after the game. Asked if he planned on giving it to the Hall of Fame, Sosa slowly shook his head.

"I already gave them everything I had last year," he said. "I've got the right to keep this one."